


Peridot’s Holiday Tale

by silvermoon718



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: A Christmas Carol Parody, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Death, F/F, F/M, Family, Forgiveness, Ghosts, Heavy topics, Holiday, Love, Moving On, Suicide, modern parody
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-23
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:41:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21843091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silvermoon718/pseuds/silvermoon718
Summary: Peridot isn’t too fond of the idea that her fellow Crystal Gems are celebrating a holiday that has nothing to do with them when there is more important things to do. Connie takes notice to this and tells her the classic tale of A Christmas Carol, but with a drastic twist.Note: Story was started after Raising the Barn and is heavily based on the absence of Lapis, and because of that it isn’t that changeable. Everything up to Garnet’s wedding still happens but the diamonds didn’t come yet since that marks Lapis returning.
Relationships: Amethyst/Peridot (Steven Universe), Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe, Lapis Lazuli/Peridot (Steven Universe), Pearl/Rose Quartz (Steven Universe), Rose Quartz & Greg Universe, Ruby/Sapphire (Steven Universe)
Kudos: 7





	1. Story Time

**Author's Note:**

> Bolded parts are Connie’s story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter originally written 11/23/17 (Revised in 2020)

Peridot ran across the snow covered ground as flurries of snowballs flew past her. She laughed as none of them managed to hit her.

"You gotta try harder than that to hit me, ya clod!" Peridot yelled. She stuck her tongue out at Amethyst, who had her arms full of snowballs. Amethyst snickered when she saw that Peridot had stopped just to tease her and currently wasn't paying attention to anything. Amethyst grabbed one of the bigger snowballs she was holding and forcefully aimed it directly at Peridot's face.

The distracted Peridot quickly looked to see that a huge snowball was hurtling right towards her, not even giving her the chance to think about the direction she was going to go in order to avoid it. The snowball whacked her in the face, the impact making her fall backwards into the snow. Amethyst walked over to her.

"Are you okay, Peri?" Amethyst asked her in amusement.

"I'm perfectly fine," she replied, rolling her green eyes.

"Here, let me help you up," Amethyst said as she reached her hand out for Peridot to grab. Peridot gave a sly smile as she took Amethyst's hand, yanking her down into the snow beside her. Peridot chucked evilly and sat up, taking a fistful of snow from the ground.

"Uhh... Peridot," Amethyst said apprehensively, "What are you going to do with that sn—" Amethyst was cut off as Peridot rubbed the snow all over her face.

"Vengeance is mine!" Peridot yelled.

"Peridot, STOP. That's really cold!" Amethyst said, laughing with a face full of snow. Peridot put her arms down and laughed.

"Snow is fun," she said with a smile. The two gems stood up and brushed the snow off themselves.

"We should probably get back to the house. It's starting to get late," Amethyst told Peridot, as she turned towards the house.

"Okay, lets go."

As they walked through the snowy beach, Amethyst couldn't help but notice the fact that Peridot was smiling.

"I'm glad you've been in a better mood since this summer."

"Me too. It hasn't been easy. I think about Lapis everyday and how she left, taking the barn along with everything else. But, the thing that upsets me the most about it is that she never said goodbye. She just left like it was no big deal! I thought she cared about me..." Amethyst noticed a tear falling down Peridot's face, but Peridot quickly wiped it away before changing her tone. "I'm glad that you guys didn't let me sulk in the bathroom forever despite what happened. You helped me get into a much healthier mood and I've been able to fulfill my role as a Crystal Gem better here then I ever was able to at the barn. I'm thankful that you've all done so much for me these past few months," she said while walking up the steps behind Amethyst.

"And besides, I don't think that Lapis would've wanted to leave the barn to spend time with the group today... or at all. She didn't want us to come over last year," Peridot said before pausing, then asked, "Anyways, what was so special about today in the first place?"

"Oh yeah! Well..." Amethyst said as she opened the door. As the door was opened, Peridot saw that Steven and the rest of the Crystal Gems were hanging up decorations all over the house. The entire place was full of festive décor from the tree, to the shiny paper on the boxes, the lights, and more. 

"Is this that Christmas thing that some humans celebrate?" Peridot asked Amethyst. Connie had just finished decorating a tree when she saw that Peridot and Amethyst had come inside. She walked over to them.

"Hey guys! How was the snow?" Connie asked them. Amethyst turned to see the fourteen year old girl walking towards them.

"It was great," She replied to Connie. They both looked at Peridot, who was watching the other gems hang up decorations.

"Why does Peridot look so confused?" Connie asked Amethyst.

"She doesn't know what Christmas is."

Peridot glared at them, "I do to know what Christmas is! It just seems so pointless. Why are we celebrating it? Isn't it a human thing?"

"It can be for anyone who wants to, Peridot! Not just humans," Connie told her.

"Rose was the one who started this, I—" Amethyst started to say.

"Well, whatever. Why don't we just skip it? I mean it's rather stupid. Isn't it just a day dedicated to sugary candy and presents?" Peridot questioned. 

"Yeah, and how is it stupid? Presents and candy are some of my favorite things!" Amethyst said, defending it.

Connie facepalmed herself, "Amethyst meant to say that it is NOT just about those things. It's about coming together as family and friends and spending quality time with one another. There's so much warmth and love thrown into this holiday and others as well. It's just amazing!"

"Okay, but what makes it different than any other day? We can get together some other time!" Peridot retorted.

"Of course. However, with all of the traditions, it adds up to be something even more special. Like the gift giving for example. It's not about getting gifts, it's about coming together and finding something meaningful to give to the people you care about, and it feels good to see them smile because of that. This and many other things make today and tomorrow different than any other time of the year."

"Yeah, whatever. Don't you think that we should be out looking for the corrupted gem that Garnet scouted yesterday? We should be doing our job instead of singing songs and opening presents!" Peridot told Connie.

"Come on Perski, we all need some time to loosen up every once in a while," Amethyst said.

Connie jumped up, "Hey! This reminds me of a popular Christmas story I've read. It's about a human who despises Christmas, but he eventually sees the meaning of it with a bit of help. It's really amazing and inspirational. Every year I like to sit down and read it because it's my favorite. I would read it to you, except I don't have the book on me right now."

"Why don't you just tell it to us, it doesn't have to be perfect or anything," Amethyst told her.

"You're right Amethyst! I could just tell it to you guys, and maybe I can change it up to be interesting for you two."

"Like a parody?" Peridot asked, rolling her eyes. She did not want to hear any cheesy Christmas stories.

"Yes, exactly. This is going to be so much fun!" Connie exclaimed.

"Wait! I need some hot chocolate before you start," Amethyst said, running into the kitchen. She came back only a second later with a warm cup of hot chocolate.

"How was that so quick?!" Connie and Peridot asked in amazement.

"Oh! I stole it from Steven. The microwave finished warming it up and he wasn't there when it beeped. First come first serve," Amethyst leaned back into the couch and took a sip of the hot chocolate, looking very content with herself. Then all of the sudden, they heard the shout of a fifteen year old boy coming from the kitchen.

"Where is my hot chocolate!?" he yelled. Amethyst smiled smugly.

"Okay Connie tell us the story."

Peridot stood up from the couch.

"I won't be taking part in this," She said as she walked away.

But, before Peridot could get anywhere, Amethyst picked her up and set her right back onto the couch. Holding Peridot down, she laughed, "You're not getting out of this!" Peridot kicked her legs and tried to wriggle free of Amethyst's grasp. Amethyst snickered at Peridot's attempts to free herself and kept holding onto her. Once Peridot knew she wasn't going to escape, Connie started her story.

**"Once upon a time the was a bitter human that went by the name of Perrie..."**

Peridot groaned, "Ugh! You're making this about us aren't you?"

Connie blushed in embarrassment, "No. I'm not...."

"Whatever, just continue," Amethyst took another sip of her hot chocolate.

"Okay, let's start it from the beginning," Connie said.


	2. Familiar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I put warnings in already, but this parody is very modern and contains a lot of darker topics and swearing.
> 
> Chapter originally written 01/18/18 (Revised 2020)

Connie began her story, **"A young human poked her head outside the window of her shop. The cold air made her blonde hair blow around. It felt nice. However, what she saw when she looked outside at the small town around her was not nice at all. There were lights strung up all over the town, wreaths were up on almost all of the doors, Christmas music was being played, and there were people all over town getting off of work early. This meant that it was Christmas. She despised this time more than any other time of the year.**

**_Dumb clods,_ she thought. _They should be working right now. How else are they going to make a living? They have weekends to get together and do fun things!_**

**She slammed the window shut, closed the emerald curtains, and sat down in her desk chair. She grabbed her tablet and clicked on her music, turning it up all the way and smiled as her country music drowned out any sounds of Christmas coming from outside.**

**Suddenly, there was a faint knock on her door that she could barely hear over her music.**

**"Come in," she said, annoyed.** **The door burst open and a girl about her age came in. She was short with long hair that was dyed light purple. Her dark brown eyes** **sparkled with excitement.**

**"Hello, Amy. What brings you in here this afternoon?" she asked the girl who had entered. Her tone aloof and dry like she wanted this to be over with. Anyone could tell that she was uninterested in whatever Amy had to say.**

**"Hey, Perrie! Are you excited about the holidays?" Amy asked her.**

**"Most certainly not. Christmas is just pointless and cloddy." Perrie said with a unwavering voice.**

**"Pft. You say that every year Perrie, but we both know you don't think that it's actually cloddy."**

**"I most certainly do find it cloddy."**

**Amy rolled her eyes, and sighed, "Okay, since you asked why I came up here before, I'll tell you. The reason I came is because I was wondering if I could get off of work early tonight. I'm going to have a party at my place for Christmas, and I need time to clean up. You know how messy I can be. And, while I know you weren't able to come the last few times I've invited you, I really would like it if you came this year Perrie."**

**"And why do you think I will come to your stupid party this year?" Perrie spat at her. Perrie was always annoyed whenever Amy asked her to come over. Shouldn't she have gotten the message the she didn't want to?! Especially not to a _Christmas_ party of all!**

**"What is your problem?!" Amy questioned, she was really getting tired of** **how cranky and aloof Perrie had always been, especially as of late.**

**"I don't have a problem, you do. You can stop bothering me about this pesky nonsense, and let me have my own opinions while you keep yours to yourself. Besides, why would you want to waste your time on a stupid thing like Christmas?!" Perrie spat again.**

**"It's not stupid Perrie!" Amy retorted. She too was starting to get pissed off.**

**"That's complete bullshit! And no, you can not get off of work early. Get the hell back to your office. Now!" Perrie yelled sternly.**

**Amy sighed, "Fine. But you know, I've always wondered why you're so fricken cranky all the time. I constantly go out of my way to make you happy, yet you never show the slightest gratitude for it," she said as she walked to the door.**

**"And it's only been worse since Lily passed away," Amy mumbled, reaching for the doorknob as she rolled her eyes. P** **—"**

* * *

Peridot was immediately ticked off at what Connie had just incorporated into the story.

"Seriously?! You're actually going to drag this into the story? I'm trying not to think about Lapis right now! I'm going to leave again," Peridot said, bitterly.

"Good luck with that! You can't escape with me stopping you. If you try again I'll tie you up," Amethyst told her, receiving a hiss in retaliation. 

Connie replied to Peridot's question, "Her role is relevant to the plot line." Peridot rolled her eyes while Connie continued to tell her tale.

* * *

**"Perrie's face was full of shock due to the last sentence Amy had said. It had hit her harder than a bullet. After the initial shock wore off, she gritted her teeth.**

**"What. Did. You. Just say?" she growled through her clenched teeth.**

**"I said that you act like this because of Lily," Amy said bluntly, looking at the ground. Perrie was right.** _That was what she had said._

**"You are not going to bring Lily into this! And what makes you think that you can bring her name up in a tone like that?! Lily was the closest friend I had and she's gone now!" she yelled before her voice softened to a sadder tone, "she's never coming back."**

**"How do you even think that she was your closet friend anyways? All she did was keep you shut up in this office with her all the time. If she cared about you she wouldn't do that. A "close friend" is someone who cares about their friends."**

**Perrie scowled, "And I suppose you're referring to yourself. Well, if you actually cared about me, I doubt you'd bring up Lily to me after I've been grieving over her death for almost five months!" she yelled with tears in her eyes. Amy hated when Perrie cried.**

**"I'm sorry.. I didn't mean—" she started to say before being cut off by Perrie.**

**"I want you to leave. Go. You're fired. Just... go." She said, not looking at Amy.**

**"Don't you think that's a little much?" Amy asked softly. Perrie only gave her a sharp glare as a reply. Amy got the message and left without saying a word.**

**After Amy left, Perrie slammed her head down onto her desk, dug her fingers into her hair, and groaned.**

**"I bet she's happy now that she has time to set up for her stupid little party!" she said in a mocking tone.**

** Not long  ** **after Amy left, someone else came in through the door. Perrie looked to see who came in. It was another one of her employees, a smaller girl with dark brown hair that was almost black. She was wearing a red sweater with a little green heart on it and in her hair a red ribbon was tied.**

**"What do you want Ruby?" Perrie asked, exhaustedly."**

* * *

Peridot cut Connie off.

"Hey! How come Ruby has the same name?" She asked.

"Because Ruby is actually a common human name unlike Peridot, Amethyst, Sapphire, etc. Same goes for Pearl, Rose, and although it's rare, even Garnet is a human name," Connie replied.

"That's weird."

"Yeah, I guess so. I'm going to continue now."

* * *

**""I know this isn't a very good time for you... but you know how some businesses let everyone go on Christmas, and we don't typically do that here?" Ruby asked.**

**"Yes?" Perrie knew where this was going.**

**"I know you don't like it when we ask for things like this, and that's fine with me. I accept that. But, I don't remember if I told you, but Sophie and I recently got licensed to be foster parents and there's this one little girl that—"**

**"Why tomorrow?"**

**"Well, the agency couldn't decide whether to place her with us or a different family, but they said that if we could pick her up tomorrow, that we could be the family that she's housed with. The other family was on vacation during this time, and the agency thought that it'd be best for it to be sooner. I would've said something earlier, but they just called us last night about it. I know it sounds strangely urgent, but that's bec—"**

**"I'm sorry Ruby. That is not an option. Sophie can just go by herself," she said strictly.**

**"C'mon Perrie! Why can't you let me do this just this one time? I think it'd be best for both of us to be there."**

**"Why did you even marry Sophie?" Perrie asked.**

**"Because she fell in love with me, just as I fell in love with her. I'm sure you know what that is like."**

**"I'm sorry, I don't," Perrie said. She only wanted to get this conversation over with.**

**"What about you and L—"** **Perrie cut Ruby off before she could say anything more.**

**"This discussion is over. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"**

**"Please I—"**

**Perrie sighed, "Look, as you know, we've always had only a few workers here and even before I wouldn't let you take off. But first we have Pearl go along with Lily, and after all that Amy goes and decides to get on my bad side. You, Bailey, and I are the only three left. So, I better see you at work tomorrow or else you'll be fired just like Amy. I don't think Sophie would be very happy if you lost your job, now would she?" Perrie questioned coolly.**

**Ruby looked down at her feet, knowing nothing would persuade Perrie.**

**"Yes, I'll go to work tomorrow," she said calmly.**

**Perrie watched Ruby exit the room and saw the door of her office finally shut. _Well she was awfully calm today_ , Perrie thought. She was glad that Ruby didn't put up a fight, she sometimes had more anger than Perrie herself. Perrie could never tell with her, as she didn't always lash out, but she also wasn't quite this calm.**

**_Eh, n_ _ow I can get some work done!_ she thought.**

**The rest of the day drug on almost like a normal day. Perrie would answer calls about requests for certain art pieces, then give them to Bailey and Ruby, while working on some herself. Finally, it was time for her to go home. The others had left at four 'o clock, but she stayed a little longer to finish her most recent project.**

**Perrie walked out of the building, taking one last look at it before going home. She gave one forlorn glance at the sign attached to the building named _Lily's & Perrie's Meepmorps_. Perrie sighed. Lily had come up with the name "meepmorp" to represent art, as it was very creative much like the two of them were. She looked away sadly, getting into her truck and driving home to her house outside of town.**

**She liked her home, the houses were spaced out, and it was perfectly quiet. Perrie parked the truck in the driveway and shut the door. She walked up to the door and turned the key. When she opened the door, she heard excited barking. Her dog was trudging down the stairs and once she made it down, Perrie was tackled by her.**

**She laughed, "Nice to see you too Pumpkin."** **Perrie got Pumpkin off of her and walked into the kitchen with the dog padding close behind her. She set her work bag down and opened the fridge to see that it was almost completely empty other than a few measly leftovers.**

 **"Great, I'm still not used to being the one to get the groceries. Looks like I'll be eating leftover pancakes from breakfast," Perrie sighed morosely.** **She took the pancakes out of the fridge and threw them onto a plate. Not even bothering to warm them up, she walked upstairs to her room.**

**Perrie set her food down and changed into her sleepwear. She then sat down on her bed and started eating her cold pancakes while drawing a bit on a clipboard. Pumpkin jumped onto her bed and snuggled up next to her for comfort. Eventually, the long hours at work caught up to Perrie, and she drifted off into sleep.**

* * *

**Perrie layed comfortably asleep on her bed even though she'd fallen asleep on top of a pencil, and Pumpkin was practically on top of her now.**

**That all ended immediately when a loud echoy voice jolted her awake.**

**"Perrie! Perrie!" The voice called out to her. Even though it was loud, it echoed beautifully across the dimly lit room.** **Perrie rubbed her eyes and looked to see where the voice was coming from. Her eyes wandered around the room to see the faint blue glow of one lone figure standing in her room. It had on a blue dress that was the very color of the glow that came from it. It had short blue hair, if not slightly messy, that gently laid around it's pretty face. But, the most unique feature about it was the heavy chains attached to it's wrists. It's eyes shone as cold as death.** **Perrie's eyes widened in shock, recognizing this figure immediately.**

**"Lily?!" Perrie couldn't believe it. Lily was back! Tears welled up in her deep green eyes as she ran towards her.**

**"I've missed you so much! I—" Perrie went to embrace her friend, but she passed right through her.** **"Wha..?" She looked back at Lily, who gazed at her pitifully.**

 **"I'm still dead Perrie. I'm a spirit now. That's why we can't have physical contact," Lily told her.** **Perrie looked up her body again. No wonder she was glowing eerily and seemed almost translucent.**

 **"W—what are you doing here?" she asked, backing into her bed until she was sitting down in it. She was slightly scared of the fact that a ghost, even i** **f she was very close with it, was standing in her home. Or, _their_ home. This was not scientifically possible. Meanwhile, Pumpkin was still asleep, oblivious to the fact that Lily was back.**

**"I have my reasons," Lily said mysteriously, sitting down on the bed beside her. This sent a slight chill down Perrie's back. She did not believe this. Ghosts didn't exist! Maybe she was still asleep.**

**Lily looked at her and smirked. "You don't actually think I'm here, do you?"**

**"No. I don't. You're probably just an illusion from those cold pancakes I ate." Perrie tried to not believe the fact that this ghost was sitting on her bed with her, but she was still scared. Even if it were real, shouldn't she be happy that she'd come to see her? What if this ghost only _looked_ like Lily and was haunting her as some kind of sick joke. Then she looked into the eyes of it, despite her fears. Her expression was completely real and it was one that Lily often carried on her face. _What if this is real?_**

**"I'm going to ask again, why are you here on earth with me now?" she asked the ghostly form of Lily.**

**"I've been wandering the earth since I died on that cold summer night. I did go anywhere or do anything in life. I never moved further than this house, our office, nor that fricken bar I went to all the time! I didn't do anything in this world during my life. Now I'm imprisoned here, forced to stay here on this planet wandering around aimlessly."**

**"I—is that why you have those chains?" Perrie asked apprehensively.**

**"Yes, these chains are what keep me trapped here. I was trapped even when I was alive. And I did it to _myself_. I made these shackles _by choice_ bit by bit with every stupid and careless thing I did. I constantly trapped myself, whether it was literally trapping myself in this room, or figuratively by hating everyone around me, picking out every stupid thing in this world that I hated, and never doing to slightest thing to help someone else. I never _cared_ in the slightest about anyone aside from only _two_ living things despite myself. I welded these heavy chains every single day. I constantly feel their weight dragging me down. It's made me ache every second I'm forced to drag them around as I wander. That, along with the constant torture of regret is unbearable! I watch you everyday as I wander around the earth seeing how much alike me you are becoming and I hate it! Seeing how everyone I knew is happy and caring. I could have done something. I could have been happy with them, yet I yelled at them and shut them out! But, this regret won't make up anything. I'm stuck."**

**Perrie looked back down at the thick ghostly chains attached to Lily. Her body felt like it was sinking in as a chill coursed though it. She was terrified.**

**"And although you are incapable of seeing them, you, yourself have forged long, heavy shackles much like these," Lily told her. Her voice then went very quiet. "To think that I'm partly responsible for a few cables..." she mumbled.** **Perrie was only growing more scared at this point as she felt herself tense up.**

**"Don't you have any good things to say?" she asked her shakily.**

**"I don't have a single thing. Though, I must say that drawing you're working on is quite nice, though it needs a bit of color. It's quite dull without any," Lily pointed out, looking at the drawing on Perrie's clipboard.**

**Perrie gave a slight smile, "Tha-"**

**"Crap! I keep wasting time!" Lily facepalmed herself.**

**"What do you mean?"**

**"Okay, so you know how I said that I am meant to wander aimlessly around this world? I can't stay in a single place for very long even though I wish! My time is running out. I need to stop answering all of your stupid questions."**

**"Wait, I have one more I'd like you to answer."**

**"What's that?"**

**"** **_How did you die?_ "**

**"I guess I should tell you, though you'll probably get mad..."**

**"I don't care. I just want to know."**

**"Okay... So you know how I stayed at work a little longer after you left that night? I started thinking about a lot of things that had happened to me in the past and how dumb I've been and how I never did anything useful ever. I couldn't stop. I kept thinking about it, all of the bad things that've happened in my life. Thinking hurt, but I couldn't stop. It just kept giving me constant, aching anxiety."**

**"But you were doing to good with it! You'd even stopped your drinking problem as a means of coping with it!"**

**"Yes, I _was_ doing good with it. Ever since the two of us had gotten together I'd been able to almost never think about it. You kept my mind free of of those things. But, that night I couldn't keep things out of my mind. I _needed_ to forget immediately. And as soon as I was done working I drove over to the bar."**

**"What?" Perrie asked sternly through gritted teeth. She was mad after all the work she'd done to stop Lily's habit. Lily used to believe that getting drunk helped you forget about things, like many of the country songs Perrie had listened to mentioned. Even if it did clear your mind, it was not good in the slightest or long term.**

**"I told you that you'd get mad. I'm going to keep going because still have something else to tell you before I go. So I drank, until I was almost blackout drunk. It was terrible, but I wasn't thinking anymore. Then I decided in my intoxicated state that I was going to drive home since I was done. I'm sure you know what happened with that from the news," Lily sighed, looking down.** **Perrie gave her a silent nod.**

**"After that happened, I ran! I got out of my car and ran! I was a crooked mess darting away from what I'd done. I finally stopped at a bridge. I was still very drunk, but I was starting to think again even if it wasn't straight. This time it hurt a thousand times more. What the hell had I done?! I couldn't stand it anymore... so... I jumped. Without even thinking," she glanced away from Perrie, not wanting to face her.**

**"B—but you were drunk! You couldn't control yourself!" Perrie blurted out, but immediatly felt paranoid and guilty about responding in that inappropriate manner.**

**"That doesn't matter! I thought I could run away from my problems so I wouldn't have to face them. I'm a coward! I acted as if what I did didn't mean anything. So I thought if I wasn't around everything would end! But instead of taking two lives that night, I took three."**

**"Who's was the third?"**

**"Yours."** **Perrie gazed at her with a shocked expression.**

**"Ever since I met you I had been molding you into a replica of myself. But, that morning when you found me while walking Pumpkin along the river sped up the process of completing my final art piece immensely. And every artist has a piece they can't stand to look at because of how horrendous it is. I saw the look on your face as your eyes fell upon me. That look alone stabbed me with a shock that felt like thousands of needles piercing into my nerves. I had molded you into myself, and your fate was transformed to resemble mine. A final piece is always a final piece," Lily said, clenching her teeth.**

**"F-final?" Perrie stuttered to say.** **"There has to be a way to undo it! _There has to be!_ " She was deathly afraid.**

**Lily sighed, "As you may know, a final piece means you are done. However, some people have a delete button. Most get super pissed off that they accidentally deleted the art they've worked so hard on, but others use it to remove the bad. There's a delete button for your fate. There is hope that it can go away. You just have to be willing to push the button."**

**"I am! How do I push it?!" She gasped.**

**"You may not be as willing to do so as you think. I've come to foretell you of three more spirits aside from myself that are going to visit you."**

**"Is that the hopeful 'deletion button' you were referring to?"**

**"Indeed."**

**"I don't think I want to be haunted, thank you very much."**

**"Well unless you let them do so, you will suffer just as I am. The first will come when your clock lands on one tomorrow."**

**"Maybe we can walk around together! Then it might not be so bad," Perrie thought aloud, her voice tone sounding far from sane.** **Lily growled at her, sending a menacing glare before continuing.**

**"The second will come at the same time the next night, and the third will come the night after that, with the final second of midnight."**

**"Why can't they all come at once?" Perrie asked her.**

**"That's probably the fifth stupid question you've asked me since you said that you'd stop. Anyways, the spirits are meant to come at different times. That is all I have to say. I have no more time left to stay here. Goodbye Perrie. I hope you remember this meeting," Lily walked away, her still pretty blue hair blew behind her.** **She was walking towards the wall but quickly turned back around to face Perrie. "Good luck," she smiled at her before disappearing into the wall.**

 **Once she was gone, everything had went back to normal.** **Normally Perrie would've just shrugged the whole situation off and call it cloddy. But she was completely baffled at what she'd just witnessed. If she wasn't so tired she would've laid awake thinking about it for the entire night. Perrie quickly collapsed onto her bed and drifted back to sleep..."**


	3. Your Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally written 12/26/19 (Revised 2020)

**"Like any normal human being may do at times, Perrie awoke from her slumber early in the morning on account of being thirsty. She picked up her phone which was sitting on the nightstand beside her to naturally check the time, which was twelve fifty five in the morning. To her, it felt like it should have been much later. She swung her legs off of her bed, landing them softly onto the carpet beside it and walked into her bathroom to turn the faucet on, waiting for the water to cool. Once it had finished, she slowly moved a glass under it and turned the faucet off once again as it was full.**

**As Perrie raised the glass to her mouth she saw an eerie light reflecting in the mirror before her. Startled, she jumped and let out a scream as the glass tumbled out of her hands and onto the floor before her.**

**"Ugh. My top is wet now. This is just perfect!" She grumbled, looking at the water that had been dumped on her.**

**"I guess you could say 'pearlfect' instead, Perrie," a familiar voice said from behind her.**

**"Stop trying to be funny Pearl, it's not going to do anything," Perrie replied nonchalantly before bending down to pick up her glass.**

**Then, in an instant, Perrie's eyes dilated in shock at what she had said. Perrie slowly turned around apprehensively to see a tall figure standing before her with its arms crossed.**

**"So, you must know what funny is then?" the figure questioned as she raised an eyebrow. It was most definitely Pearl. If her looks didn't give it away, then her salty tone did.**

**"Pearl! How the hell is a dead clod such as yourself even standing here?" Perrie questioned in her shock. Pearl simply stood there without a word. "Wait, this is just another part of that weird dream where Lily came to warn me about three other ghosts coming to haunt me, isn't it?"**

**Pearl continued to not say a word, and while Perrie was forcing herself into believing that her earlier encounter wasn't real, let alone this one, she was still highly apprehensive about it.**

**"Look, I don't even know what's real anymore, so I guess I'll play along," Perrie sighed.**

**"So, are you going to answer my question?" Pearl asked. Perrie was just baffled about the fact that the thing she immediately cared about was some random question about humor. Wasn't she going to punish her for not treating her kindly? Haunt her maybe, as vengeful spirits tend to do? They hated each other and each found the other very annoying. Yet instead, there was no sinister look in Pearl's blue eyes. It was only kindness and what seemed to be care.**

**"Whether I know what's funny? Well, I can most certainly say that a thing such as so should not matter. Humor is a simple and trivial sort of thing," Perrie said sternly as she held that viewpoint strongly.**

**"I do agree with you in regard to the fact that humor is a simple thing, but it is a very nice thing to have present in your life. I love it when I find humor in things."**

**"Yeah, and all you do is laugh at weird things that almost nobody else laughs at. It's super awkward. You do know that people judge you for that sort of thing, right?" Perrie said curtly.**

**"And why should one care about that? If I find joy in something, it's fun for me. Nobody else should keep you from feeling like so, correct?" Pearl asked.**

**"The opinions of others do matter. You get far when people view you with respect and high regard. It's the only way that you'll survive in life. Look at yourself, somebody who was always low in society, someone who dared to look past what was necessary, someone who was always looked down on, is _dead_ ," Perrie told her cooly.**

**Pearl just shook her head and sighed. "That's a very blunt way of viewing things. Sure, society never accepted who I was, but I was highly regarded amongst my friends and that worth made me feel like a queen. Not a vain and cold queen, but one that smiled and defended the people she loved in return for their own love. And that Perrie, is how I died. I couldn't have asked for a better fate," Pearl stated with a triumphant expression before shifting into a more somber tone, "as hard as it is to not live happily with them anymore or share those smiles again."**

**Perrie just rolled her eyes. She didn't want to hear any of this, so she just moved on. "So, Lily told me that I'd be visited by three more spirits, and I figure that you are the first?" She questioned.**

**"Oh Lily... it must be a heavy burden having to carry all those chains, I can't say if she—"**

**"SHUT UP!" Perrie spat, cutting Pearl off, "How can you be acting like this?! You talk to me now without the slightest ounce of spite and now as you speak of Lily, you sound melancholy? It makes zero sense. I forced you to work when you wanted to be off who knows where, I yell at you, I make fun of you, yet you're being kind to me? And Lily! She _killed_ you! She did everything possible to run you down and she hated you far more than I did! How do you not hold any animosity towards us? Don't you want vengeance? You should hate us!" Perrie yelled with tears in her eyes.**

**Pearl just looked at her with sorrow. "I don't hate you, Perrie. Sure, you certainly irritate me a lot, and the way you have been talking to me this hour has certainly made me want to slug you across that smartass face of yours. But, you're a smart young girl who has a lot of potential as long as you allow others to guide you along the right path. And Lily? She never tried to kill me. It was just a coincidental part in a horrible chain of events. I accidentally did some things in the past that really hurt her and she resented me for it. I guess I understand, though I tried to be kind to her in hopes that she may forgive me. I know she's been through a lot and although she was put into a lot of these situations due to others, she became like this on her own behalf and hurt herself and others. I hoped that maybe she'd let down her guard and start being forgiving but she never did. Now though, I imagine that she's starting to see all that and maybe I'll get to see it for myself," she said quietly.**

**"Pft, as if you could even punch me. As a ghost you'd merely pass through me," Perrie scoffed. She wasn't paying too much heed to the other things said, or rather didn't want to say anything about it. Perrie still did not understand why Pearl was only acting out of kindness.**

**"Not true, as I am able to take a physical form, unlike Lily," Pearl said.**

**"Great, that makes it all the more ridiculous as to the fact you aren't haunting me," Perrie rolled her eyes.** **Pearl flicked her forehead and Perrie jumped back.**

**"Don't touch me, you clod!" she spat.**

**Pearl snickered a little bit, "Well, I can't say I didn't enjoy doing that." She then got back to answering Perrie's initial question, "But anyways, yes. I am the first of the three spirits who are coming to visit you, and as of now you can refer to me as the ghost of Christmas past."**

**"Christmas past? What does that have to do with anything?" Perrie asked Pearl.**

**"It has to do with everything. Tonight, we are going to take a look at your past," she responded.**

**"My past? Unnecessary. You should be looking at your own past rather than bothering in mine," Perrie said as she crossed her arms and walked back over to her bed. Pearl was quicker though and swiftly cut in front of her to get eye contact again.**

**"Trust me, Perrie. I look into my own past quite enough as it is," she glanced to the side before looking at Perrie again. "So now, I dare say it is your turn to look into the shadows of the past."** **Pearl slowly held out her hand for Perrie to take.**

**"I'm not taking your hand! How dumb do you think I am?" she inquired. Pearl kept her hand stationary.**

**"I don't think you are dumb, but if you want me to leave so badly, I will if you take my hand," Pearl told her.**

**"Fine," she said and quickly laid her hand into Pearl's. "Let's get this over with."**

**Pearl closed her long and delicate fingers around Perrie's hand and swiftly darted through the window, which was closed. Pearl pulled her through the cold winter air as the acres of snow covered countryside stretched out below them. Perrie wasn't falling, and nor did she feel the cold sting of the December winds. There were many questions she wanted to ask such as how such a thing fit into logical physics, though she could only muster out one question.**

**"Where are you taking me?!" She asked in a mixture of annoyance, fear, and perhaps wonder. Pearl noticed that faint hint of awe and smiled, unbeknownst to Perrie.**

**"I already told you. Your past."**


End file.
